Public Sector Labor Law in the Kaye Court

Abstract

This presentation was delivered at the 40th Anniversary of the Taylor Law Conference sponsored by the NYS Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in Albany in May 2008. The presentation dealt with the New York Court of Appeals' approach to public sector labor law. Professor Vincent M. Bonventre identified patterns and trends in the decisions of the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, over the fifteen year period during which Judith S. Kaye has served as Chief Judge. A review of those decisions is revealing. Overall patterns for the fifteen years, as well as recent trends, emerge from the court's rulings when reviewed in light of certain considerations: unanimous versus divided decisions, pro-employee versus pro-management ones, pro versus con-collective bargaining rulings, decisions in which public policy was deemed to prohibit versus permit collective bargaining or arbitration or certain terms or conditions of employment. All of the foregoing is illustrated in graphs that underscore these contrasts in the cases collectively, as well as highlight the recent trends suggesting a pro-management change in the court's direction.